Trauma
by Moon8Child
Summary: Sakura is not okay, and Sasuke notices. Takes place during the Chunnin exams, right after the Sound Genin attack. SasuSaku.


_**Trauma**_

She was watching the water flow rapidly yet gently down the stream. The birds chirping from the trees on the other side of the bank and the trickling of the crisp water only intensified Sakura's heedlessness.

The pinkette was currently sitting on a boulder, her legs hanging limply, her back hunched. Her calloused, dirty hands sat on her lap. She was unconsciously picking at her right thumb with her left hand.

The swelling on her right eye was still very prominent and had also turned into a nasty purple color. Her bottom lip was also puffy from where it had split open near the corner. The slit was caked with blood. Sakura's cheeks were adorned with several other bruises ranging from yellow to green. Her once flawless porcelain face now looked grungy.

Her hair.

It was horribly choppy, even after Ino had tried "fixing" it.

Sasuke continued watching her, irritated at the fact that she was completely letting her guard down. Sakura was totally zoned out, she was setting herself up for danger.

 _Had she not learned from the situation she was in just yesterday?_

The raven haired boy began walking towards her, snickering at how right he was. Sakura hadn't even turned around when he started sauntering in her direction.

His hand came in contact with her upper right arm, his fingers wrapping around the delicate, battered skin.

Sakura yelped in surprise, yanking her arm away quickly she hopped off the rock she'd been sitting on. Sasuke didn't miss the alarm that filled her green orbs, nor did he miss the way she winced in pain and wobbled when she landed on the floor.

 _She's still afraid..._

When the rosy girl finally realized it was the Uchiha, a fake grin spread across her face, "Ah, S-Sasuke-kun! You startled me!"

"Hn."

Sakura put her right hand on the rock for support, the gashes on her left leg were burning and she gritted her teeth.

Sasuke noticed another laceration on the arm she was holding herself up with and he was filled with disgust.

 _She should have let me kill those bastards when I had the chance..._

"W-what are you doing here?" her soft voice broke him out of his thoughts.

"You were supposed to get water."

"Ah yes! I just got distracted, that's all! You can go back to camp, I'll be there in a few minutes."

The Uchiha paid no mind to her words, he stayed in place watching her once again. Like hell he was going to leave her alone again. Her injuries were the exact reason why that couldn't happen.

He wouldn't let it happen again.

The green eyed girl reached for the hollowed out log they'd found and limped towards the stream. She was really trying to walk normal, but it was a lost cause, she knew Sasuke was observing her.

Just as she was bending over to dip the log into the water, her left leg gave out on her and she fell on the dirt floor in a heavy heap. Sakura closed her eyes, her fingers digging into the dirt.

 _I can never do anything right._

She started lifting herself up, unable to contain the groans of pain any longer.

Two hands weaved underneath her arms, picking her up with ease, as if she weighed nothing. The pinkette couldn't help but gasp at the sudden act.

Just as fast as the hands appeared, they disappeared. Sasuke fetched the log from the ground, dipped it into the water, filled it and stood up quickly.

Sakura was about to take a step when she felt the raven haired boy snake his way underneath one of her arms again. His left hand wrapped around her back, elevating her enough so there was hardly any weight on her left leg.

It was odd at first, Sakura was not used to this much physical contact with Sasuke.

"But your neck, doesn't it hur-"

"I'm fine."

The pinkette didn't reply.

They trudged their way back to camp, where their blonde teammate sat sharpening a kunai.

"Hey what took you guys so long?!"

Sasuke set Sakura down gingerly on the floor, careful not to cause any more pain.

"Sakura-chan are you okay?! What's wrong?! What can I do?!"

"Ano, Naruto I'm fine, just a little sore," she spoke with a smile.

"Move dobe," came Sasuke's monotone voice. In his hand was a warm, wet rag. The Uchiha proceeded to awkwardly push aside Sakura's dress and laid the contents over her cut.

"Arigatou, Sasuke-kun."

"Hn."

 ** _Hey guys! So this was an extremely short piece but I think it's pretty good. Let me know what you think and I apologize if there are any grammatical errors!_**

 ** _XOXO_**


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